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After only a few listens to Villagers’ new album Darling Arithmetic, I’m positive it’s going to end up as one of my favorite albums of the year. It’s not a surprise, as Irish native Conor O’Brien has given us nothing but great folk-records in his short, but impressive career. Darling Arithmetic will be released next month (April 13 via Domino Records), so O’Brien is in town to start the promotion of the new record, which included two shows in New York. The first came on Monday where he opened for Laura Marling at Warsaw. The second came on Wednesday night where he headlined the intimate Union Pool.

Union Pool was the perfect venue for a intimate performance from O’Brien, who was accompanied by only a harpist, who also played keys and added backing vocals. His new album is his most sparse and bare yet, which he wrote, recorded and produced at home. It resulted in some of his most personal and affecting recordings to date, which you can feel pouring out him with every lyric shared. New songs such as “Courage” and “Everything I Am” fit snugly alongside cuts from previous albums like show-opener “Nothing Arrived” and “Ship Of Promises.”

The 2-song encore of “27 Strangers” and Darling Arithmetic was a gut-wrenching finale, with a good bit of humor involved for the former, when O’Brien realized that he unintentionally wrote in a sexual innuendo (“So I walked home / Just feeling nothing on my own / noticing that tree of yours / I’ve been watching it grow”). He paused in the middle of the “tree” line, laughed and explained: “Every time I sing it now, I realize it’s an euphemism for a penis. There goes that song…bye bye.” After both the crowd and he recovered from a shared laugh, he kicked back into gear and somehow managed to finish the song, with some help from the crowd during the sing-along bit of “oooohs.”

It was great to be able to see Villagers play in what felt like a one-on-one experience rather than a show. He’ll be back soon for a proper tour for the new record, and while I’m sure the shows will be great, I doubt they will be able to reciprocate the personal nature of his Union Pool performance from Wednesday night. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Laura Marling has established herself as one of the best folk-rock artists that Britain has to offer. Her latest album, Short Movie (released yesterday via Ribbon Music) is a testament to that. It’s very much a Laura Marling record, but it takes a new, more rock and roll infused approach to bring its ideas of self-discovery to life. On Monday night she played to a sold out crowd at the always wonderful Brooklyn venue Warsaw, leading the way for a totally enchanting night of music.Read the rest of this entry »

Villagers has released a video for his latest single, “Nothing Arrived.” The lightly arranged song has one beautiful piano line, which everything else works around. Connor hasn’t lost his touch one bit . It features a well done music video that echos the songs sentiment.

The video features a man cleverly named Terrence Bliss who seems to have not much going for him – until the end of the video. But things don’t really change..or do they?

Villagers have announced that their new album is titled {Awayland}. The album will be released via Domino on January 15, 2013. The album was produced, mixed, and engineered at Attica Audio in Donegal, Ireland. The album sits at 11 songs, and will feature “The Waves” as it’s first single. Listen to that/watch it’s video here.

There is also a short teaser for the album which you can watch below. From what we can hear, this doesn’t seem to be a repeat of the debut. Rather, it seems like it’s headed in the complete opposite direction, which has me excited. Watch it below.Read the rest of this entry »

Villagers have made their return with a new single titled “The Waves”.

In it, Conor dabbles with electronic sounds, while also maintaining his warm folk glow as well. It all builds into a high energy climax that is both epic and powerful.

It will appear on the follow-up to his debut album Becoming A Jackal, details soon to come. The single will be released via Domino on special limited 7″ vinyl on October 22. It’s also available to download on iTunes. Watch/listen to the music video below and remember why we all fell in love with his debut album 2 years ago.

I got some sweet goodies for you guys to win today. The always great Conor O’Brien a.k.a. Villagers is returning to the U.S. to embark on his first full band tour stateside. I got a pair of tickets to give away to one lucky winner for his November 3rd show at the Mercury Lounge. On top of that, you will get a copy of Becoming a Jackal on CD. Can’t beat a 2 for 1 deal.

To win, leave a comment on the best show that you have seen this year, and why. Whoever leaves me impressed wins. Be sure to enter your e-mail address so I can e-mail you if your the lucky winner.

Get at it!

Villagers are also stopping by The Knitting Factory on November 2nd. Be sure to catch one of his dates, he’s phenomenal live.

Niall from the incredible Nialler9 just sent me over an amazing live video of Villagers, and I had to share it. It’s also Niall’s birthday, so how could I not post it? (Happy Birthday Niall!)

The video captures Villagers performance of “The Meaning of the Ritual” in Dublin at the Workmanâ€™s Club during an invite only gig. Director Myles O’Reilly beautifully captured the performance and makes it come to life. You really do feel like you’re there yourself.